Just Friends
by angelofdarkness78
Summary: Somewhere along the way, between the bickering and the animosity, she realized they had become friends. MA implied


Disclaimer: I do not own Dark Angel or any of its respective property, such as Max and (unfortunately) Alec, etc.

A/N: This is just a little something I came up with to pass the time. So I was watching the dvds, and I realized that in "She Ain't Heavy", Alec refers to Max as his friend for the first time (I think), which I think was an unmentioned turning point in their relationship.

Well, here's the product of boredom, free time, and Dark Angel. :)

* * *

"The pipes in the mess hall are leaking," she announced, chucking a plate of soggy eggs into the trashcan as she barged into Command. "They look more like egg soup than an edible solid."

"Was that before, or after, the water leaked on them?" Alec quipped.

She hid a smile. "Joshua's doing the best he can. Besides, he was the only one who offered to cook for the starving masses."

"Just tell the big guy that I'd be perfectly happy eating macaroni and hot dogs for breakfast tomorrow morning." He ran a hand threw his already tousled dark blond hair and rummaged around for a wrench and some duct tape. "I'll see what I can do, but I make no promises."

"Well, look at you, Mr. Handyman," she teased. He gave her a dark look before stalking out of the room.

"You and Alec seem to be getting along pretty well," a voice commented, turning her attention toward its owner.

"Yeah, I guess."

She had told Logan several months ago the truth about her and Alec's "relationship", the pretense finally taking its toll on her, and – to be fair – on Alec as well, for having to stay monogamous. He often complained at the beginning of having his love life permanently screwed, but after a while he surprisingly stopped making mention of it.

Logan had taken it fairly well under the circumstances, and they tried to fall back on their old relationship, though it was more strained than it used to be. She was adamant about not crossing the line between friends, and despite his attempts, he finally seemed to accept it, albeit reluctantly. He had come over today despite her protests, with the excuse that he needed to drop off some computer equipment they might be able to use, though she knew he just wanted to see her. The toxins prevented him from coming regularly, but Dix affirmed that short-term exposure shouldn't cause any problems, and so here he was.

"I remember when you guys would argue about everything."

She shrugged, turning to sort through some papers. "Things change."

"When?"

The question caught her off guard, and she looked at Logan in confusion. He seemed to be genuinely curious in her answer, and suddenly she found herself wondering the same thing. When had she and Alec become friends? It seemed as if their relationship could be split into two distinct periods in time: the angry, spiteful time where she had thought nothing more of him than an irresponsible, unreliable asshole who cared about no one but himself, and now, where she knew she would risk her life to save his and equally knew that he would do the same.

When had everything changed?

"_No worries. Anything for a friend, or a clone of a friend_."

He had said that to her after helping Sam, as casual as if he were discussing the weather conditions. There had been no thought about it, no hesitation. He had just stated it simply, as though he thought that it would have no meaning to her.

But it had. It was the first time he had ever called her his friend, and the first time he had said he would do anything for her. Of course, she was sure he hadn't meant it in that big, declarative way like they did in the movies, but it still meant a lot.

_Sam glared at her. "__If you're expecting a thank-you, forget about it. None of this would've happened if it weren't for you." _

"_You're right," she acknowledged. She was surprised when Alec came up to them._

"_You know, if Manticore hadn't gone down, you wouldn't even be with them. You know who took it down." He looked pointedly at Max._

Even then, he had defended her, despite the fact that less than a year before it had been he who was pissed that she had burned down his "home". It was strange to think about there being a "before" and "after" time. It was even stranger to think about how they'd both gone from one extreme – hating each other – to the next, without her realizing it.

She didn't know the exact moment it happened, or even when things started to change. Maybe it had been when they both cared for Joshua after Annie had been killed. Or maybe after that night when he had comforted her about Ben. Perhaps it had even been when she saw him cry over Rachel, or when they had been stuck in that closet together for god knows how long. She smiled at the memory.

If she really thought about it, there had been hints ever since the beginning that he was more than just Manticore's puppet, yet she had been too blind or angry to see them. He had plunged that dagger into the hard earth beside her head, choosing to accept his death rather than take her life when White had blackmailed him. He had come back for her when White had had her trapped in that cage, and helped her destroy the laser.

"I don't know, Logan," she answered honestly. "They just did. Maybe a while ago."

"Are they still changing?"

She looked at him sharply. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He averted his eyes. "You know what I mean."

This was territory she avoided like it was White on her tail. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't thought about Alec in a more-than-friend way a few times, not that she'd ever confess that to anyone.

She remembered that time she had gone over to his place for help with Gossamer, and he had come out in a towel, water droplets running down his –

"Oh my God," she blurted out.

Logan looked bewildered. "What?"

"Uh, nothing." She grabbed the rest of her paperwork and waved it at him. "I've got a lot of stuff to do, so if you could…?"

He took the hint. "See you around, Max." The door shut softly.

She plopped down on her tattered chair and held her head in her hands. She couldn't think about Alec like that. They were friends now, and she had come to value their friendship. If she had learned anything during her years on the outside, it was that love sucked. It screwed up everything in a monumental way. She could even use the relationship between her and Logan as exhibit A to remind herself that they rarely turned out well. Thinking about what potentially _could _happen between them in the unknown future scared the crap out of her. Thinking about what she potentially _wanted_ to happen scared her a whole lot more.

"Well that was a bust," someone grumbled.

She turned to see the person in question walk in, trailing water everywhere he moved. He didn't look happy.

"God damn pipes burst before I even touched them," he growled. He flung his arm across his face and wiped the water off with his sleeve. "Now it's like an egg river down there. I didn't even get my bowl of rubbery egg soup!"

She bit her lip to quiet a laugh. She couldn't help but be reminded of a disgruntled cat after being drenched in water.

She opened a rusted metal drawer and pulled out a mini chocolate bar, splitting it in half and again stifling a laugh when his eyes became as round as saucers. The cat image returned, this time being of one catching sight of a canary.

She offered a half to him.

"You've been hiding chocolate!" he accused.

"Cindy brought me some the last time she was here."

"Wow, Max. Thanks for sharing," he said sarcastically, looking at the small piece he held in his palm.

"Anything for a friend." She grinned and popped her share into her mouth, savoring the taste.

"Well, _friend._ You couldn't have maybe saved me a piece that was a little bigger than a quarter?"

"This was the last bar. If you want some more, I guess you're gonna have to find a way to get it out of here." She pointed to her mouth.

The chocolate stuck in her throat when he sauntered over to her, putting an arm down against the table, effectively trapping her between him and the wall. "Okay, then."

She found that she couldn't breathe then – whether out of anticipation, fear, or the chocolate thickly coating her throat, she couldn't tell.

He moved his head close to hers so that their noses were almost touching and she had a close-up of his twinkling hazel eyes. His lips came close to her own, about a breath away, when he stepped back and popped his own piece of chocolate into his mouth. His eyes were laughing now.

"On second thought, you gave me the bigger half, Maxie."

He grabbed a handful of newspapers sitting on a chair across of the room. "Better go clean up the mess in the mess hall." He chuckled at the wording and exited without another glance.

She allowed herself a moment to calm down, and then another to work her throat and unglue the chocolate that was sticking to it. Finally she let a small smile creep over her face.

Yeah. She was glad that they were finally friends.

For now.

* * *

A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed that. It went in a different direction than I originally intended, but after getting stuck halfway through and having to do some editing, this ended up being the product. :) I just really wanted to show the friend stage in between the earlier animosity and the budding romance that a lot of us wished would happen on the show, because so often it almost seems as if they go from one extreme to another without that intermediate part. I think Max and Alec are also a little OOC, but hopefully it's not too bad.


End file.
